Titans will start head-coaching search Friday

The Titans and coach Jeff Fisher have elaborated on the one-sentence statement announcement that the man who’d coached the franchise since it was known as the Houston Oilers will be leaving the team.

“We will be forever appreciative of Jeff Fisher’s leadership and accomplishments through his time with our franchise,” the Titans said in a statement attributed to no specific person. “We reached some of our greatest heights and experienced some unforgettable moments during his tenure.

“After the season was complete, we had numerous discussions on the direction of the team and were pleased that we were moving forward with Jeff at the helm. Since that time, it became evident that consensus was increasingly hard to find and reality wasn’t matching the vision we discussed. It is unfortunate that this decision is coming at this juncture, but we believe that we have reached the point where change is in the best interest of both parties.

“We will start the head coaching search tomorrow. We expect to talk to a broad and diverse group of candidates. We are confident the coaching pool still has a number of quality candidates that can lead our football team.”

Multiple reports have indicated that offensive line coach Mike Munchak is the leading candidate to replace Fisher. He can’t be hired, however, until at least one minority candidate has been interviewed.

According to TitanInsider.com, Munchak recently signed a new contract with the team. Apparently, it doesn’t specify that he’ll be the next head coach of the team; otherwise, there would be no reason to “talk to a broad and diverse group of candidates.”

Fisher chimed in with a statement of his own. “I want to thank Mr. Adams and the organization for a special 17 years,” Fisher said. “I can’t thank the fans enough for the support they showed us through the years; it has been a tremendous experience. We all did our very best and I think I can look back with fond memories and be very proud of what we accomplished. I want to wish the organization, the current players and the fans nothing but the best in the future.”

A press conference will be conducted on Friday at 11:00 a.m. local time, with “[a]ll of the parties involved” available to the media at that time.

In many ways this is a sad one. Jeff Fisher isn’t a bad guy. Nor is he a great coach. He is a good guy and good coach. The job obviously got totally away from this guy over the past 2-4 years. And he unfortunately focused all of his frustrations on a sensitive, insecure but extremely talented young QB like Vince Young. Just think where Fisher, Young and the Titans would be today if Fisher had thrown all of his support and belief behind Young. And built his confidence instead of ripping it apart. I believe Vince would have gone through walls fo him. Just like he did for Mack Brown at Texas. But Fisher always wanted the less talented Matt Leinart. Who knows?! Maybe he laid aYoung for Leinart deal on the table before Bud, the team and coaches said it’s over. Maybe that is where the “consensus” actually fell apart. In other words, over who replaces VY at QB.

Going to be tough replacing a coach who had six winning seasons in 16 years. Oops, was going to give him slack for his partial year and not count it but if he’s saying 17 years, then heck, it’s going to be tough replacing a coach who had six winning seasons in 17 years.

Jeff Fisher handled his time with the Tennessee Titans with professionalism and class. He took a franchise that had fallen, thanks to an unhealthy relationship between owner and city, on hard times in empty stadiums in Houston through two “homeless” seasons in Memphis and Vanderbilt Stadium, and developed a franchise that became respected around the league for a decade.

The organization may have underacheived a couple of times during his tenure, but Nashville and Titans fans all over became used to winning thanks to the success the Titans achieved, not every year, but most, under Fisher’s leadership. It’s going to be a strange sight without the mustache on the sidelines.

Lets face it, the guy was a mediocre coach who survived because he coached in a small market with very little pressure…in comparison to his peers. Bud Adams made the right decision in seperating, hes just fives years too late.

It was time for Fisher to go. The team stagnated. They didn’t get substantially better or worse. They just hovered around the same record. I guess the team was making money for Adams since it took 16 years of mediocrity to make a move. Get ready Titans fans for more of the same. Need to change that front office and owner for anything different to happen.

The Titans fans I know here in Nashville appreciate what Jeff Fisher did for the team. And, while they’re sad to see him go, they also recognize that making a clean break now probably makes more sense than a holding pattern situation for a lame duck season.

It will be interesting to see what minority candidate (or candidates) the Titans interview for the job.